Some of the best tools for small scale wood carving

For the majoring of carving tasks, I use the Butz carving knife and detail knife. There are times, however, when a specially shaped carving tool is just what you need. For a long time, I tried to use standard set of palm carving tools. Depending on the size of your carving, these can be perfect. Sometimes, though, they are just too big..

That's where these unassuming little carving tools by Dockyard come in. They they are hand forged, tempered, and tested for a correct edge profile. Not only that: they come sharpened and ready to use. They are small enough to work comfortably on small-scale carvings. You can hold the narrow handle like a pencil for certain cuts. This is very helpful for fine control.

Dockyard makes micro carving sets like the one shown here in different sizes -- 1.5mm, 2mm, and 3mm. I bought the 2mm set and that seems right for the scale of work that I do. The micro carving tool set I bought has single and double bevel chisels, a skew chisel, a 90 degree V-shaped tool, and U-shaped gouge. All have cherry wood handles. I plan to get more of these.

Here's the full line of Dockyard micro carving tools.

---